US and UK rate hikes to drive euro further south
The euro has lost considerable ground since last spring as the persistence of very weak growth in the eurozone, coupled with a fall in inflation to very low levels, forced the ECB into further policy easing moves.
It has also become increasingly clear that while interest rates are likely to rise, albeit modestly, in the US and UK over the next couple of years, they are set to remain pegged …
Race to buy before summer will spike house prices
Nearly 8,000 house hunters, who rushed to secure mortgage approval in the weeks before the strict new Central Bank deposit rules came into force, are in a race against time to buy houses and apartments before the summer.
Borrowers are facing a “use it or lose it” dilemma because most mortgage approvals lapse after just six months. Experts fear the rush to buy could lead to a short-term spike in …
SMEs to have access to state-backed loans if their lender leaves Irish market
The Government’s credit guarantee scheme is being extended to cover businesses whose lenders, like Danske Bank, are leaving Ireland.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will now have access to state-guaranteed refinancing loans if their lender is leaving the Irish market.
Up until now the Credit Guarantee Scheme was only available for new loans, not refinancings.
Divisive talks at ECB meeting
The ECB’s chief economist warned eurozone central bankers of the perils of delaying quantitative easing, according to records of a January meeting that shed light on how policymakers ‘broadly’ agreed to launch the scheme.
Speaking to the January 22 gathering of the ECB’s Governing Council, Peter Praet addressed the risks of waiting before launching a programme of quantitative easing — effectively printing money to buy government bonds.
The minutes give …
SMEs to benefit from €400m funding launch
Small and medium enterprises will next month have access to €400m worth of funding after the launch yesterday of the long-awaited Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI).
The first tranche of the SBCI’s €800m reserves will be made available through the pillar banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, with other lenders expected to come into play later in the SBCI’s lifetime.
The initiative is funded through a combination of the …
Mortgage rules ‘will do nothing’ to slow prices
The Central Bank’s new rules on mortgage lending will do nothing to temper rising house prices but will increasingly open the market to investors at the expense of first-time buyers.
House price inflation will not be moderated by the restrictions introduced last month in a bid to quell demand and limit credit availability but will make the market increasingly attractive to investors, according to property experts, Savills.
The restrictions will …
Venture capital funding to SMEs hits €400m
Venture capital funding to SMEs rose over 40% to €401m last year, the highest level seen for 10 years.
More than 80% of monies raised went towards funding company expansion, according to the annual VenturePulse survey from the Irish Venture Capital Association.
The €401m raised compares to €285m in 2013 and 13% of the 2014 pot was raised abroad (mainly from Silicon Valley) by five Irish firms.
Home lending to top €5bn
New mortgage lending is expected to top €5bn this year with the Central Bank’s new loan restrictions likely to see drawdowns front-loaded in the first half of 2015.
Mortgage approval data released by the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland suggest that there was a huge surge in activity late last year ahead of the introduction of new lending restrictions announced last month.
A total of €3.85bn was drawn down …
‘Paying bond holders saved deposits’
Irish depositors would have lost all their money had the Government burned the bondholders, the ECB president has pointed out in a seven-page letter about the banking crisis.
Mario Draghi, replying in detail to a letter from Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy, denied comprehensively forcing Ireland to pay off the senior bondholders in Anglo Irish and the other banks that cost more than €67bn.
He showed, step by step, that …
Mortgages to the value of €1.3 billion drawn down in Q4, up 49% year-on-year
Mortgages to the value of €1.3 billion were drawn down during the final quarter of last year, new figures show.
This is up 49 per cent on the value of mortgages drawn down in Q4 of 2013, which was €896 million. In comparison, mortgages to the value of €10.3 billion were drawn down in the fourth quarter of 2006.
The BPFI/PwC mortgage market profile shows that 7,583 mortgages were drawn …